It’s Wednesday and we are celebrating women, queer women that are creating art, telling stories and impacting the world. Every week I am talking with a queer womxn creators/artists and sharing their story, their work with you!
Introducing Kelsey Jones, LA based photographer and cinematographer. Professionally, she’s a Producer and have worked for companies like BuzzFeed, Twitter, Fullscreen, and Netflix. She spends all of her extra time building her own social media and making content. She lives, eats, and breathes digital and wouldn’t have it any other way.
Javay Frye: How did you get into your genre of art?
Kelsey Jones: I fell in love with YouTube six years ago when I was going through a hard time personally. I loved the relatability and authenticity of the platform and ever since then I’ve made it my life’s mission to help as many people as possible through digital content.
JF: How does being a queer womxn influence the art you create?
KJ: Queer womxn creators are so underrepresented in the digital space and I really want to pave the way for other queer womxn to get into filmmaking and creating. Filmmaker YouTube/Instagram is white male dominated and I want to change that.
JF: What has been your greatest work to date?
KJ: My short film, Wilderness. I’m so happy with how that film turned out.
JF: Who are some artists/creators who have influenced you?
KJ: Rose & Rosie are the reason I fell and love with digital content, I owe my entire career to them. From a photography/cinematography perspective I really look up to creators like Zack Kravits and Peter McKinnon. They are both insanely talented and have really changed the way I think about shooting/editing.
JF: What’s the story behind this piece?
KJ: I love nature, landscapes, and exploring the less urban parts of the Los Angeles area. My short film, Wilderness, was shot on a blistering hot day out in Malibu. My DP, drone operator, and myself got sunburnt and pretty dehydrated but in the end we created my favorite project to date. It goes to show that the projects that sometimes take the most labor have the biggest payoff.
JF: How do you feel art/content is impacting and changing the world we live in?
KJ: I think in this day and age content creation is imperative. So many people need a way to escape and drown out all the negativity in the world, so making quality content that people can enjoy is more important than ever.
If you want to keep up with Kelsey be sure to follow her on Twitter, Instagram and subscribe to her YouTube channel!